Imagine if everyone you knew gave just $1. Imagine the potential.

Oxfam Australia are delighted to announce $1 Day, a national fundraising event with the aim of raising $500,000 for clean water programs around the world. The official day is 31 May 2016, but Australians are being asked to donate their small change throughout May.

From primary school coin-lines, to friends and family movie nights, from workplace casual Fridays, to swimathons, marathons and the like — people from all walks of life are being asked to get on board and get everyone they know to donate just $1 this May.

Small donations can make a big difference to people living in poverty. All of the money raised will go towards Oxfam Australia’s life-changing work around the world.

“Ready access to safe, clean drinking water is something we take for granted.” Lisa Cant, Oxfam’s Events Coordinator says. “But in too many countries where we work, dirty water is keeping whole communities in poverty. Imagine if everyone you knew donated $1, what a difference that could have on someone’s life.”

One in eight people cannot access clean water (WHO, 2015), claiming more lives over the past century than any other health issue. Globally, diarrhoea and other diseases caused by dirty water take the life of a child every 20 seconds. Even worse, these children are the smallest and most vulnerable — aged under five.

But children like six-year-old Yolanda from Ixopo, South Africa, have beaten this deadly statistic, using just four sticks and a plastic container. Together, these simple items make a “tippy-tap”, a life-saving hand-washing device that Oxfam installed in her community, thanks to donations from generous members of the public. And it only cost $21.

“We see her doing things and we follow, because we realise that she is a very clever child, and she knows how to do beautiful things,” Yolanda’s grandfather Reginald says. “What I have noticed — that is important — is that she washes her hands after using the toilet. And before having meals, her hands must be clean … she’s made a very big difference.”

Your fundraising can provide ingenious solutions like tippy-taps, Oxfam buckets and hygiene education; solutions that save lives. Together, we can make sure children live to see their sixth birthdays.

One in three people around the world live in poverty. If every Australian was to give just $1 this May for $1 Day, we could give life-saving clean water to even more people living in poverty.

Anyone can get involved in Oxfam’s $1 Day by hosting an event with friends and family, getting the local school involved or throwing a casual Friday at the office. Or just donate $1.

To register your event, to make a donation, or for more information go to www.onedollarday.org.